Last year, after winning one of the Columbus Foundation’s first Spirit of Columbus awards, David
Brown was pleased but puzzled.

“I was honored to get it,” said Brown, director and creator of the Harmony Project, which
bridges social divides through the arts and community service. “But I wondered: ‘Why me? What was
unique about me?’”

The award — established last year to recognize people whose accomplishments reflect “an
exemplary community spirit”— prompted Brown to try to document the theme of the award.

His curiosity led to the film
One Family, One Spirit of Columbus, to be screened Wednesday night at the Drexel
Theatre.

“What’s remarkable about David is he used the award as a launching pad and not just as an
accolade,” said Doug Kridler, president and chief executive officer of the Columbus Foundation. “He
was inspired to show in a visual form what that might look like.”

The film follows a diverse mix of 10 families that spent five evenings together to exchange
views.

“The goal was to videotape it and share it with family groups throughout the community,” said
Brown, director and executive producer of the 53-minute film.

Kridler and others at the foundation liked what they saw during a screening of Brown’s rough
cut.

“There was an excited and grateful buzz around the entire staff that lasted all day,” Kridler
said.

The positive feedback, Brown said, broadened his thinking about the film’s use.

“We said, ‘We need to get this out to a wider audience.’”

The project began with a pool of potential families being created through solicitations via
email and social media.

The families were chosen after filling out a questionnaire and drafting a statement about how
they personify the spirit of Columbus.

The demographics of the 26 people selected are diverse: black, white, Latina; Jewish, Christian,
Muslim, atheist. Some of the families involved are nontraditional:

• A gay, divorced father and his son

• A Caucasian “Jewish atheist” and a Christian African-American couple

• A single mother and her parents, who have been married for 38 years; the father is battling
dementia

• A young African-American Muslim woman who experienced culture shock after moving from a black
neighborhood in Atlanta to Hilliard

• A “family” from the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville consisting of members of
Tapestry, a program that promotes proper behavior as a means of abstaining from drugs and
alcohol.

“You think: How would their paths have crossed?” Brown said.

But through shared meals, joint activities and joint travel — including assigned seating that
forced participants to interact with non-relatives — people became comfortable offering their
views.

The film was shot Nov. 18-22 on a $20,000 budget, with plans to show it to community groups and
other people interested in the work of the Harmony Project.

“We didn’t have any delusions of anything beyond that,” Brown said. “I think it will ensure
those in the community who are like-minded to engage across cultural lines, to maybe ensure that
other people will participate in the next version of this.”

And, except for the imprisoned women, the group members continue to see one another. In fact,
they held a reunion of sorts on Sunday and discussed a program to provide yoga mats for the
inmates.

“They didn’t want this to end; they wanted this to be a beginning,” Brown said. “They wanted to
continue giving back to the community as one family.”